New Englanders Lead 2002 USA Teva Mountain
Running Team

Selected in July, the 2002 Teva U.S. Mountain Running
Team will travel to Innsbruck, Austria to compete in the
WMRA World Mountain Running Trophy Race this September. The
senior women will run a 9.2K uphill event on Saturday,
September 14 and the senior men will race 11.7K uphill on
Sunday, September 15. The women's team includes four athletes
an alternate, and a manager with the top three finishers
scoring for the team. Six athletes, an alternate, along with
a manager represent the men's team with the top four
finishers scoring. The alternates will run in the Open race,
or should another athlete be unable to compete, in the Trophy
race. The team was selected based on the following
criteria:
- The first U.S. male and female finisher at the 5.8 mile
Wolverine Hill Climb in Anchorage, AK (June 8) received
automatic berths.
- The first U.S. male and female finisher at the 7.6 mile
Mount Washington Road race (June 15) in Gorham NH received
automatic berths.
- The first U.S. male and female finisher at the 7.5 mile
Vail Hill Climb in Vail, CO (July 7) received automatic
berths.

The athletes selected are among the finest mountain runners
ever assembled for a US team. The runners are not only
mountain specialists, but also excellent road and
cross-country runners. The group includes: Olympic Trials
qualifiers, National Champions, national class cross-country
and trail runners, US 100K team members, and top snowshoe
racers. A short bio on each athlete can be found below:

Open Men

Eric Morse (Berlin VT/CMS) 37 is employed as a
draftsman. Morse was an automatic qualifier based on his
victory at the Wolverine Mountain Race, he also finished
second at Mt. Washington. He has competed four times for the
US Mountain Running Team having finished third US in '96 and
second US in '97 and '00, and was unable to attend in 2001
due to travel restrictions. Morse has been named Vermont
runner of the year ten times and has won twelve USATF NE
championships. Morse finished first at the USATF New England
Mountain Circuit 1997, 1999, 2000-2002 and was the USATF NE
Mountain running champion in 1998 & 1999. Eric was named
the USATF Mountain Runner of the year in 2001. He has PR's of
14:17 5K, 29:20 10K and 1:03:50 for the half marathon.

Dave Dunham (Bradford MA/CMS) 38 works for the
Treasury Department. Dunham finished second at the Wolverine
race, and fifth at Mt Washington. Dave has competed on the
USA Mountain running team ('92-96,'98, and '00). He was
selected but injured in '97 and '99, and was unable to make
the race in 01' due to travel restrictions. Dunham captured
the silver medal at the Worlds in Gap France (1993), and was
the top USA finisher in 1992-96, and '00 (2nd US in '98). He
qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials in 1992 and 2000.
In 1996, Dunham founded the USATF NE mountain circuit, and
then won the circuit in both 1996 and 1998 (runner-up in
1999, 2000, and 2001). Dunham was the 2000 USATF Mountain
Runner of the year. The multi-talented athlete also
represented the U.S. on the World 100K team and was the
National Snowshoe champion in 2001 and the runner-up in 2002.
In addition to being the Mountain representative at the New
England Association (USATF), he serves on the National
Mountain/Ultra/Trail Running Sports Council. Dave has PR s of
14:08 for 5K, 29:17 10K, 1:00:53 20K, 2:19:28 marathon,
2:57:36 50K, and 6:46:39 for 100K.

Paul Low (Amherst MA/CMS) 28 is currently studying at
UMass Amherst working towards his M.S. in Geosciences
(studying igneous petrology and tectonics). In 2002 he placed
second at Vail and fourth at Mount Washington. In addition
Paul set a course record in winning the Seven Sister's
12-Mile Trail Race and finished 7th in the USATF New England
10K championships (30:41). Paul was a US team member in 1999
and 2000 (2nd and 5th US finisher). He set a course record at
the Mt Toby Trail Run and was 19th at the US National 25K
championship (1:19:50) in 2001. In 2000 Low was the 2nd US
finisher at Susa Italy, Kitzbuhel Austria, and Oberstaufen
Germany and the top US finisher at the International Snowdon
race in Wales (finishing 5th overall). He has PR's of 14:44
for 5K, 24:38 5 mile, 30:36 10K, 1:07:28 ¸ marathon and
2:26:00 for the marathon.

Dan Verrington (Bradford MA/CMS), 40 makes his living
as a Cemetery Superintendent. He was selected to the team
from 1994-1999, and 2001 and was the alternate on the 2000
team. Verrington has been one of the most consistent
finishers for the team during that time. He was the second US
finisher in 1994, third US in 1996 & 1998, fourth US in
1997, and fifth US in 1999, he was 2nd US finisher in 2001.
He was 3rd overall in the 2000 Open race. Verrington won the
USATF New England Mountain Running Championships in 2001. In
2002 he was the National 50K champion and was the 2nd US
finisher on the World 100K team. Verrington lists his PR's of
5k 14:48, 10k 30:35, half marathon 1:05:32 and 2:21:10 in the
marathon. Dan will also be competing in the WMRA World
Masters Mountain Running Championships the week following the
World Trophy.

Richard Bolt (NH) 31, has been selected to be the
alternate. Bolt was the 3rd US finisher at the 1999 World
trophy and at the Challenge Stellina. Bolt completed all
three of the selection races, placing sixth at the Wolverine
run, ninth at Mt Washington, and eleventh at Vail. He was the
bronze medallist at the 2002 Snowshoe national championships.
Bolt finished third at USATF NE mountain circuit in 2002 and
2000. He also competed in the US Olympic trials and was
All-American for Nordic skiing and was on the 1997 World
Duathlon Team. Richard has PR's of 4:19 for the mile, 14:49
5K, 24:48 5 Mile, and 31:06 for 10K. He has fully recovered
from a bout with Lyme disease in 2001.

Simon Gutierrez (NM) 36 is a physical therapist, he
was an automatic qualifier based on his victory at the Mt
Washington Hill Climb, he also won the Vail Hill climb. This
will be Gutierrez's first time on the US Mountain running
team. He has been a member of the USA National Cross Country
team three times. Gutierrez was an Olympic trials qualifier
in the marathon. He is a three-time winner of the La Luz
mountain race. In 2000 he finished second overall in the
Swedish Grand Prix Circuit. Simon finished fourth in 1999 and
third in 1998 at the Mt Washington Hill Climb. He is a highly
durable athlete, typically running the 4K and 12K at the
cross-country nationals. He has PR's of 14:21 for 5K, 29:17
10K, 1:03:47 ¸ marathon, and a 2:18:36 for the
Marathon.

Richard Shelley (NM) 40 works as a Quality Manager. He
was the top US finisher at 1998 World trophy and 2nd US in
2000. Shelley is an uphill specialist who races sparingly. In
2002 he placed 8th at Mt Washington. In 2001 he was the 1st
US finisher at Susa, Italy, Zermatt, Switzerland, and
Kitzbuhel, Austria. Shelley also won the 2001 La Luz trail
run. His PR's are 14:19 for 5K, and 29:56 for 10K. Richard
will also be competing in the WMRA World Masters (40+ for
men; 35+ for women) Mountain Running Championships in
Innsbruck on September 21, the weekend following the World
Trophy.

Open Women:Nikki Kimball (Waterford NY/CMS) 31 will make her
first trip to the Worlds this year. She finished sixth at Mt.
Washington just behind Bryan. Kimball earned a berth on her
first U.S. Mountain Running team last year, but was unable to
make the trip to Italy due to travel restrictions. Kimball
has set course records this year at Mt. Kearsarge (8.5Mile
Uphill), Whiteface Mountain (8 mile uphill), Northern Nipmuk
16 Mile, and won the Merrimack River 10 Mile. Like Dunham,
Kimball represented the U.S. in the World 100K Challenge in
2001 and 2002. Kimball is an orthopedic physical
therapist.

Suzy West, (Putney VT/CSU) 39 makes her fourth U.S.
team, this year as the alternate She participated in two of
the US selection races finishing third at Wolverine Mountain
and ninth at Mt. Washington. In 1999 she was the top U.S.
finisher, fourth U.S. finisher in 2000, and although she was
named to the team in 2001 travel restrictions forced her to
remain in the U.S. West won the 2000 and 2001 New England
Mountain Running Circuits. In 2002 West has been strong in
Circuit placing second to Kimball at Kearsarge, second at
Mount Wachusett, third at Pack Monadnock, and second at Mount
Ascutney. West has a successful dental practice in Putney,
VT.

Anita Ortiz (Eagle, CO) 38 is the only woman to earn
an automatic berth on the team. Ortiz traveled to all three
of the U.S. selection races winning the Alaska and Vail
events and was the top American at Mt. Washington finishing
second to last year's World Trophy runner-up Anna Pichrtova
of the Czech Republic. Ortiz is the reigning North American
Snowshoe Champion, and so far this year unbeatable on the
trails. This will be Ortiz's first appearance on the U.S.
team. She teaches kindergarten and has four active youngsters
of her own.

Julie Bryan, (Jackson, WY) 34, is real estate
specialist in her hometown of Jackson. Bryan was second US
finisher at Mt. Washington (fifth overall), and just two
weeks prior to the Vail event Bryan was injured when her
truck topper shattered and severed tendons in her wrist.
Bryan received the go-ahead from doctors to run easy at the
Vail Hill Climb where she finished seventh. She is back to
full training and setting her sights on a top finish at the
World Trophy in Austria. This is Bryan's second appearance on
the mountain running team. She finished a strong second for
the U.S. in last year's competition in Arta Terme, Italy.
Bryan, a former mountain and road cyclist new to mountain
running in the past three years, holds course records at the
Targhee Hill Climb and the Rendevous Hill Climb (both set in
'99) in her home state.

Kari DiStefano, (Telluride, CO) 43, finished second
to Ortiz at the Vail Hill Climb. She was the top U.S.
finisher at last year's World Trophy placing 21st, the top
finish by an American woman in the seven years of fielding a
woman's team. In her home state in 2001, DiStefano posted
wins at the Highline 15 Miler, the Arbor Day 10 Km Trail
Race, her sixth win at the grueling Imogene Pass Run,
third-place finish at the U.S. Fila SkyMarathon, and fourth
at the North American Snowshoe Championships. She was the
2001 USATF Mountain Runner of the year and demonstrated equal
tenacity on the roads by finishing second at the 2001 Big Sur
Marathon. DiStefano has three children and works as a mapper
for San Miguel County.

A six-member U.S. junior squad will debut at the World
Trophy on September 14 running a 3.3K course (junior women)
and 9.2K course (junior men). The juniors were announced on
June 2 and include Nicole Hodgson, 19, CA, Colorado athletes
Jessica Pitzer, 16, Melissa Marts, 17, and Eduardo Pasko, 17,
Matt Winter, 17, MT, and Trevor Hanlin, 16, OR. Eric
Morse of Central Mass. Striders got a rare chance to race
in his home state of Vermont and broke his own course record
by three seconds to win the Mt.Ascutney Run, the final stop
of the 2002 USATF-NE Mountain Circuit. Morse's time of 27:44
was three seconds better than his winning 2001 time, but a
full minute and a half ahead of runner-up Richard Bolt. With
three wins and a second in the four race circuit, he took the
series title again. This was the seventh running of the
circuit